Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy Blogoversary to me! A year ago today, J and I had a conversation in a hotel room. Exhausted from walking around New Orleans, and with a few beers in our stomachs, we collapsed on the bed and talked about our future. We had just gotten "the call" three days before. We were matched with M & T and were excited about an opportunity to adopt a baby girl due on July 6th. Later that night we would collect beads at a St. Patrick's Day parade in the French Quarter, but at that point we were simply discussing where to eat dinner. I mentioned casually that a friend (Deanna) had suggested I start a blog about our adoption and that I couldn't decide what to call it. We discussed this and came up with "Clio."

Today I flew home from the Baltimore/D.C. area with my almost 6-month-old daughter! She did pretty well; the flight home was direct and she took a 30-minute nap at one point. We had the whole row to ourselves (I wonder why?) and I put up the armrests, laid her down across two seats and buckled her in around her waist. I gave her a paci and her lovey blanket and, along with the white noise of the plane engines, they sent her off to sleep like a charm. It would have been a great flight if it weren't that she got very hungry and fussy right before descent and drank her whole bottle before we started changing altitude. Trying to force a strong, squirmy baby to suck on a pacifier so that her ears will pop? Not fun for anyone in the vicinity.

High point of today: getting home to balmy spring weather and taking a walk as a family of five (J, Evie, me, Apollo and Phoebe).

Low point of today: discovering that while I was reading R*eal S*imple magazine, Evie was teething on one of the plane's seat belts. Ewwwwwww! Note to self: my days of reading on planes are OVER.

Funny moment from today: having a security officer tell me that Evie looks just like me. Yeah...I store walnuts in my cheeks, too. :) You be the judge (yes, my hair is always the same, same, same)...

September:November:December:

Now (at Deanna's house on Friday):

Verdict? I really don't think we look alike, but OK, thanks!

Evie had a blast this weekend. She got to visit her very first museum, P*ort D*iscovery in Baltimore, with Safire and her three adorable kiddos. Butterfly refused to play the part of a difficult 3-year-old and was sweet and helpful all day. Pirate and Professor are two of the most good-natured little boys I've ever met. Evie was exhausted from her 4 AM wake-up call that morning (for our flight out) but seemed to enjoy her view of the museum from stroller level. I had been dreading Thursday (early flight, Evie's first flight, navigating baby + enormous duffel bag by myself) but Safire and Deanna made it a great day. We had lots of fun (more detail on Safire's blog here) and it was very cool to meet them all after reading about them for so long!Then we stayed with Deanna, Jake and Snippet for a couple of days. It was great! Deanna and I have met up before, but it is usually over a meal or at an event with limited time to sit and chat. We had plenty of opportunity to gab this weekend, and it was so exciting to meet Snippet. Both Deanna and I felt verkelmpt about sitting around a table with Safire's kids, Snippet and Evie; after five long years we had all overcome our infertility and the five pieces of evidence were gathered together in one place (crying, pooping and teething on the edge of the table). It was beautiful. Read more about it (and my slightly OCD tendencies) here.

Later, Evie got to jump, bounce and giggle in a J*umperoo for the very first time at Deanna's house:

And hang out in Snippet's J*ohnny J*ump U*p (which is newer and more comfortable then her retro version). The look on her face is pure "Mom! Stop taking pictures of me!"

I left Deanna on Saturday afternoon and met up with Jen at a very strategic time: right before her surprise baby shower (organized by her husband). I couldn't mention the "real" reason for my trip until now because it was a surprise, but this was the impetus for my last-minute travel plans. Jen is very pregnant with her second baby, a girl they plan to name Rachel. Anyhow, John used me as a distraction, to get Jen out of the house while friends and family arrived and set up for the party. Jen was very surprised. She was not expecting to have a shower at all, let alone to receive almost every single item from her registry! I am so glad Evie and I could be there to celebrate Rachel and see Eric (my big, toddling godson!). My favorite day with Jen was Monday. All day we just did normal things (taking care of kids, errands, cleaning, cooking, etc.) but did it together. It was so fun for me (and I hope for Jen, although she's so pregnant that I don't know if anything is fun for her right now) and it made me sad, too. I wish I had a friend who lived next door so that we could hang out in each other's houses during the day and parent together. It's so much more fun to feed, change and entertain a baby when there is another adult around to chat with. Sadly, we were so busy that I forgot to get pictures of Evie and Eric together. :(

It's late, and although I've left out a lot from this account of our trip, I'm going to wrap it up:

Please pray or send good vibes in Jen's direction. She's planning a home birth after having a traumatic hospital birth with her son, Eric. She is scared of the pain, but even more so of the challenges she will face while staying home with a young toddler (14 months) and a newborn. She's 37 weeks now, but having contractions and could deliver any day.

This last year has been a whirlwind! It had its moments of tragedy and pure joy, but overall it has been one of the best years of my life, and I feel as though I let it race by me without savoring each moment the way it deserved. Forget my New Year's resolutions, my blogoversary resolution is much more important: slow down and focus on truly experiencing each day I spend with my daughter. It is such a privilege to be her mama. I want to look back from the vantage point of my 2 year blogoversary and say "this year was spectacular; I was a mother the whole time!"

August 26, 1995--We met at an Alpha Epsilon Pi frat party on the grounds of the University of Virginia. I was a 17-year-old first year student in the College of Arts and Sciences (double major in English and Psychology) and J was a 22-year-old in his first year of graduate school (Engineering, Materials Science)